Disappearance
by Soli
Summary: Kurt is kidnapped, but the x-men are falling apart. Will they be able to save him? (Kurtty) UPDATED!!!!!!!!!
1. And So It Begins

Author's Note: 

KITTY + KURT FICS KICK!!! Ok, so I've been working on this on 4 awhile, hopefully it's good! This is just the first chap, I promise I'll try to get another chapter here soon! Anyho, here it is, please review, and I might get something up even quicker!!!

Disclaimer for entire story: Blah blah blah, ya hear 'em once, ya hear 'em a thousand times. Anyho, all of 'em belong to marvel (phooey) except for Jenkins.

Title: Disappearance

Author: Soli

Rating: PG-13/R for angst

Coupling: Kurt/Kitty, a little bit of Scott/Jean

Summary: When Kurt is kidnapped, the rest of the X-men have to save him….before it's too late

Dedication: PallaPlease and Krissy, you guys have THE BEST Kurtty fics on the web! **Gets down on knees and starts bowing** Oh goddesses influence me with your power!! LOL. 

Disappearance

Chapter 1: And So It Begins

The room was dark, and the shades had been pulled down. Jenkins wondered for the fifth time what he had gotten himself into. True, he needed he needed money and this job was offering plenty, plus benefits, but there was just something about his employer that ran a chill though his spine.

"Good. You came." A cold voice cut through the tension of the room. Jenkins turned. The silhouette of a woman in her late twenties had appeared. 

"Yeah, I came." Jenkins growled, trying to hide the growing fear within him. The woman walked over to the desk and sat down. In the darkness Jenkins couldn't make out her features, but judging form the half-circles jutting out from the sides of her head, he assumed she was wearing glasses.

"I'm sure you remember our agreement. You will have your payment on his capture. Fail, and you will lose more than your job."

"Yes ma'am."

"He will be leaving here very soon, so be ready. Here, these will help you in you effort." Jenkins felt the woman push two objects into his arms. One was something gun like and the other was…something else.

" The tranquilizers will knock him unconscious. Remove his watch and his hologram will disappear. Use the second object to capture him. Once snapped around his neck, he will be powerless and vulnerable."

Jenkins fidgeted with the second object nervously.

"What so special about this kid anyway?" He mumbled.

"That is none of your business. You were hired for a reason. You will do your part, and I will do mine. Is that clear?"

Jenkins nodded.

"Good." The woman flashed a smile, and what little light there was left glinted off pearly white teeth. 

" I know you will treat him…right." The woman's voice took on an amused tone. Jenkins smirked, feeling a little bit more at ease.

"Don't I always?"

It was six o' clock PM when Kurt Wagner finally started on his way home. It had been too long a day: First, he had slept in and had been late to school. Then he had a pop quiz in French, which he was sure he had failed. Of course, the day wouldn't have been complete until Dakholme gave him detention. Well, how was _he_ supposed that Todd was allergic to grasshoppers? That boy ate anything and everything with or without six legs, and he's allergic to _grasshoppers_?! Jeez!

The worst part was yet to come. The spring fling was coming up, and Kurt couldn't go. He couldn't ask any of the normal sophomore girls to go with him. After all, his hologram didn't cover touch. What if someone grabbed his hand? They'd realize his secret in a less than a second. They'd know he was no where close to being human, that he had three fingers and weird legs and was covered in blue, fuzzy fur. Nope, asking anyone "normal" was definitely out of the picture.

Well, he _could_ always ask someone at the Institution. But then again, Jean would probably go with Scott and Rogue would probably snort at the idea of going to a dance.

Which left only Kitty. Kitty, who called him a "blue fuzzy elf" at least twice a day. Kitty, who never missed the chance to yell at him. Kitty, who had nearly gotten him killed by Rogue and who worried when he had been unconscious and who thought his ears were kinda cute and who laughed at his jokes…

Kurt shook his head. _Whoa, vait a minute_. He thought. Kitty, who had been seen flirting with the JV quarterback. Kitty, who had been rumored to be going to the spring fling _with _the JV quarterback. 

Well, that was ok. Kitty _should_ go to the dance with who she wanted. The fact that she wanted to go to the dance with the JV quaterback didn't bother Kurt. 

Much.

"Vell, vat does he have that I don't?" he wondered to himself. _Hmm…how about skin? Or maybe five fingers? Oh, it could be the fact that his ears are on the sides on his head and not on top, _his brain told him. _Shut up, _Kurt snapped back, and sighed.

"Mein Gott, vat a day," he muttered in self-pity. Kicking a lone pebble out of his way, Kurt wondered if his day could get any worse. 

Suddenly, he felt something fly past his face, leaving a stinging sensation behind. Blood dripped down his cheek. Whirling around, Kurt glanced around, already in fighting stance.

Yeah, it could get worse. 

"Who is there?" He called out, his voice hard.

No answer.

"I know you're there." Kurt yelled. "Bullets don't decide to fire themselves at random people." _Or random mutants. _He thought wryly. 

The darkness of the street was and the fact that he couldn't see his attacker was making Kurt nervous. Usually, if it were one of those Brotherhood punks, they'd come out and start throwing punches this way and that. Hiding and being sneaky wasn't their style. What was going on?

Another bullet whizzed by. Kurt jumped aside just in time.

"Who are you? Vat do you vant?" he screamed.

A man dressed in black stepped away from the shadows. He was slightly overweight, maybe 5'10. Kurt saw cruel blue eyes staring at him from beneath the black mask. The man shifted a gun in his right hand, and pointed it straight at Kurt.

"What I want," he said icily, "Is a new attraction. Now, why don't you make this easier for yourself?"

"Vat the heck are you talking about?" Kurt asked, hoping the man would think he had made a mistake. The man snorted.

"Don't play around with me, freak. I know what you are." The man spat. The word "freak" slammed into Kurt's heart like it was a bullet. He clenched his fists.

" I still don't know vat you are talking about." Kurt answered coolly. 

The man jumped. He was fairly fast for a man of his build, but Kurt was faster. Determined not to use his powers unless necessary, Kurt broke into a run. The man started chasing him, screaming obscenities all the way. They ran through streets and places Kurt had never heard of, until they were in a part of town he had never seen before. Kurt was starting to get extremely winded, but luckily, so was his attacker.

_I've got to lose him, _Kurt thought frantically. Glancing around, he saw a small ally way. If he could just run a little bit faster, he'd make it. Then if they ally way was a dead end, he could bamf without this man seeing him, but if not, he could try to escape. Ally way it was.

Kurt turned a sharp right. He could hear the man swear as he tried to follow.

_Maybe that'll teach you not to mess with Herr Kurt Wagner, _Kurt thought smugly to himself. Yet, in his moment of glory, he didn't notice the broken pipe or the wet concrete beneath coming up.

"Vat the…" Kurt cursed as he fell. He twisted his body so that his shoulder would take the brute of the fall and not his head. As his body and the sidewalk made contact, Kurt gritted his teeth and tried to keep in a howl of pain. He tried to get up, but his fall had cost him dearly; the man was only a few steps behind. 

Kurt scrambled up and tried to run, but it was to late. The man was there. Kicking Kurt roughly, he forced the teen back on the pavement. 

"You better be worth the trouble you've caused me." The man grunted as he slammed his boot into Kurt's side. Kurt bit his lip, trying not to scream out in pain. His mind was clouded with pain and he couldn't think straight. All he could think about was the fire in his chest and how hard it was to breath and how he wished it could just end.

Suddenly, the man stopped kicking. Kurt rolled over, clutching his chest and moaning in pain, not caring why his attack had stopped, only thankful that he had. The man glared down at the bloody teen. 

"Don't be too happy yet." He spat out. "I need you alive for the profits." He cocked his gun and pointed straight at Kurt.

There was no noise, but Kurt felt pain searing through his entire body. This time, he couldn't stop the screams.

_Mein Gott, vat is going to happen to me now?_ His mind cried out before he blacked out completely.

Jenkins stood before the boy and was staring down at him in disbelief. This miserable kid? There wasn't anything special about him at all.

"That damn bitch conned me out. Damn kid probably keyed her car or some…." He trailed off. Th watch. What was so special about the watch?

Jenkins shrugged. _Ah, what the hell_, he thought. _I get paid either way. Might as well see what happens_. Bending down, he grabbed Kurt's watch and, with a hard tug, ripped it right off. Instantly, Kurt's hologram disintegrated, and Jenkins found himself faced to face with a blue, bloody demon. 

Jenkins screamed and jumped back. Never in his life had he ever seen something like this! After recovering from his shock, he grinned. Tossing the watch aside, he bent down to pick up the boy, and hesitated. What if what this punk had was catching? He sure as hell didn't want to look like _that _for the rest of his life. Making up his mind, Jenkins grabbed an old blanket from the Dumpster and wrapped up the body. Heaving it over, he wrinkled his nose at the smell. _Ah, well_, he thought, _better than risking looking like Freakazoid here._ As he walked out to call for one of his men to pick him up, Kurt's watch lay forgotten. 

To Be Continued…. 


	2. Just Walking Around

Author's note:

YEA! People like my story! Ok, here's the second chapter! Thanks for the reviews, guys! So, read, write and enjoy!

Title: Disappearance

Author: Soli

Rating: PG-13/R for angst

Coupling: Kurt/Kitty, a little bit of Scott/Jean

Summary: When Kurt is kidnapped, the rest of the X-men have to save him….before it's too late

Dedication: I wanna say thanks to Pikachumania ( Evil Evil man??? -_-;; (sweatdrop) just a little bit off…) Silver Kitsune, Bamf chica, Toast, Daemonchan, Blackdragon, Pallaplease and foxy!

~ Means presently in the astral plan

Chapter Two: Just Walking Around

"Hello, Principle Dakholme? Yes, this is Charles Xavier. I-yes, Ms. Dakholme, I am aware that Mr. Wagner was given a detention today. That is wh- yes, I am also aware of the fact that this is his fourth detention." Logan rolled his eyes. How the Professor could remain calm with that frustrating little bitch was beyond him. Storm grinned at him.

"I know exactly how you feel, my friend." She whispered. Xavier gave them both a stern glance and turned slightly away.

"Mrs. Dakholme, if you would just list-yes, alright, I will talk with him. The problem is that Kurt never came home, and he usually-what do you mean, he left over three hours ago?" A note of anxiety entered his tone. Logan looked up. _What? Did he just say what I think he said?__ Naw, couldn't be. Elf would _never_ stay out this late._ He thought. Xavier cast him a worried look.

"Yes, Mrs. Dakholme. I'm sorry for disturbing you. Good-bye." Xavier hung up and turned to Logan and Storm.

" Professor, she can't be telling the truth! This isn't like Kurt _at all_! He knows better than to go off on his own and not tell anyone!" Storm angrily said. Each and every student at the Institution knew that failure to notify Storm, Wolverine or the Professor when going out solo would result in half a day in the Danger Room. Unfortunatly, Kurt always _did _think those sessions were a waste of time. Usually after and hour or two they would end with a ripped plug and an innocent "It vasn't me." 

" No, Storm. I honestly believe that Mystique is telling the truth, hard as it is to believe. Perhaps Kurt just went to blow off some steam." Xavier suggested, but the hint of worry and the lack of smile told Ororo and Logan otherwise. Only the three of them knew Kurt's extreme fear of being discovered. Years of being chased from village to village because of his demon-like appearance had forced Kurt to believe that he would never be accepted into "normal" society. Although his image inducor gave him the freedom to associate with other people, Kurt still was scared that his secret would be found out. 

"What if you went on a mind search, Chuck?" Charles nodded. Logan was right. If Kurt was all right, they would be able to pinpoint his location, give him a good scolding and life would continue. But if something had happened to his student….

_Stop that. Nothing has happened to Nightcrawler._ Xavier thought to himself. _I hope._

"What's up with them?" Jean whispered to Scott as the stone-faced trio passed them in the hall. 

"I dunno, but how much you wanna bet it's not good?" muttered Scott. The two teens watched the three adults' head towards Celebro's chamber.

"Yeah, something is definitely is wrong," Scott started walking after them, but Jean pulled him back. 

"Scott, they'll tell us something if something really _is _wrong." Jean told him. Scott scowled.

"Oh, right, like the time when they told us about Mystique being our principle? Yeah, we only had to go through the first two months of school 'til they decided to mention that little fact," he said sarcastically. Jean sighed. Sometimes Scott could be so…so…Scott!

"Look, just trust me on this, 'kay?" Jean took his hand and smiled. "Now, what do you say to vegging out in front of the set for a couple hours? I hear they started airing 'Endless Waltz' on cartoon Network…"

Scott's ears seemed to perk up at the mention of 'Endless Waltz', the sequel to his all-time favorite Anime show.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He grinned, and let Jean steer him towards the rec room.

" Atta boy."

The astral plane was a foggy, gray place. Wandering around in the fog was the minds of everyone on the planet. Although usually no one but the mutants with strong psychic powers had ever visited it, there were ways for others to enter. Usually, people who had fallen into comas fall straight into the middle of the astral plane, but since they weren't psychics they weren't able to dam the flood of thoughts that flowed into theirs heads. The barrage of thoughts was often too much to bear, and the poor victim trapped in the plane would sometimes experience memory loss, brain damage…or worse.

Xavier had seen it once. While using Celebro once, he had come across a little boy, no more than ten years old, wandering around. He had red hair and a backpack, but unlike the other minds on the plane, he was solid. Xavier had taken pity on the boy, and walked over to him.

"Hello, child, can I help you?" He had asked kindly. The little boy turned around, and stared at him with eyes nearly out of their sockets, with blood streaming down his face. His forehead was swollen out of proportion. Xavier gasped and stepped back as the little boy launched himself at the professor.

"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here? What- ARGH!" The little boy screamed and clutched his head, releasing his grip from Xavier's shirt. The boy squinched his eyes tight and cried bloody tears. 

"The voices! Oh, god, the voices! Make them go away! Make them go away!" He screamed, staggering towards a retreating Xavier. 

In the physical plane, the real Xavier opened his eyes, screaming. Later, he tracked down who the boy had been. His name was Joshua Tempson, and he had been in a bike accident which resulted in a three month long coma. He didn't make it.

Every time Xavier went to use Celebro, he couldn't help but remember this little boy. This time was no different. As Charles places Celebro's transmitter on his head, he made a silent wish, hoping that Kurt hadn't suffered the same fate as Joshua.

" I wonder what's taking so long. Shouldn't it only take a few minutes?" Ororo whispered to Logan. Logan frowned. 

" Who knows." He muttered. _Where you hiding, Elf?_

Suddenly, the professor began to shake uncontrollably, as if in pain.

"Professor!" Storm cried as she and Logan rushed to his side.

_~ There were cages clustered together in the center of a large, dark tent. As everything in the astral plane, it was surrounded in fog. Charles walked past the cages, first believing them to be empty. A low moan of pain caught his attention, and he curiously peered into one of the cages. What he saw made him recoil in horror. _

_Inside of the small cage lay a small brown puppy. At first glance, there seemed nothing wrong with it, until you saw its eyes. They were large, freakish eyes that seemed to take up almost the pup's entire head. The eyes were white, with no pupils or bloodlines. Although he had taught himself never to be surprised at someone else's looks, Xavier couldn't help his feeling of apprehension as he stared at the dog._

_Xavier moved on, looking into each and every cage. One held a cat with three multi-colored tails. Another contained a two-headed calf. _

_One cage was empty, except for the remains of a bloody, black X-men suit._

_That's when the screams made themselves heard._

_Charles stumbled as they made his way into his mind. * **Kurt** * he thought, looking around for the source. The screams grew louder, and Xavier clutched his head. He'd already spent far too much time in the plane, and he didn't know how much more strength he had left._

_The room was becoming foggier and the cages were harder to distinguish. * **No! No, I have to find out where this is! I have too! * **Xavier thought frantically, but it was too late. The room, and Kurt's screams, had been swallowed by the fog. ~_

"Professor!" Xavier could hear someone calling him faintly. Groaning, he opened his eyes, and found himself on one of the tables in the med center. Storm, Logan, Scott and Jean were all above him, watching him with worried eyes. 

"He's awake." Jean called over her shoulder to the rest of the team.

_Rest of the team…Kurt!_ Xavier tried to sit up. Scott gently pushed him down again.

"Easy, Professor, you took a hard-"

"There's no time for rest now, Scott." Xavier's voice was tense, and everyone in the room look taken aback. 

"Team meeting. Now." Scott said quietly as Xavier called his hover chair to him. As the group started to follow Scott and the Professor out of the room, Kitty turned to Rogue.

"Hey, have you seen Kurt?" she asked. __


	3. Lost

Author's note:

 Don't you just love cliff hangers? J Well, you've all been patient, so here it is! Thanks again to all who reviewed, GaruruBlue, Kurt is MINE! MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE! So THERE! :-p hehehehe.

Title: Disappearance

Author: Soli

Rating: PG-13/R for angst

Coupling: Kurt/Kitty, a little bit of Scott/Jean

Summary: When Kurt is kidnapped, the rest of the X-men have to save him….before it's too late

Dedication: For all the fans who have reviewed. Buddha bless!

Chapter Three: Lost

"What do ya mean he's disappeared?" Rogue screamed. Scott grabbed her arm in an attempt to calm her down.

"Easy, Rogue! Kill them _after_ they tell us what happened." Storm and the Professor laughed nervously. When eight pairs of eyes (and sunglasses) turn towards them angrily, they realized that Scott wasn't making a joke. Both Scott and Rogue looked and were absolutely furious. Jean looked somewhat calm, but Xavier could feel the fury raging from her mind. Evan was probably the calmest out of the entire group. He had faith that Nightcrawler was a big boy and could take care of himself. Sure, he'd come home with a busted bone or two, but that wasn't exactly uncommon. 

The real problem was Kitty. Xavier had to block off his connection to her mind after about three minutes. Kitty's mind was filled with angst and fear. She was frightened that something had happened Kurt, that he was hurt somewhere. She was scared that he wasn't just "blowing off steam." She was scared that she would never she Kurt again.

And then there was another part of her mind, a part that Xavier got a brief glimpse of before he broke connection; Kitty couldn't understand why she was caring as much as she was about Kurt's disappearance. She couldn't understand why she was as scared as she was, as upset as she was. Xavier couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but I fail to see exactly what is so funny," Scott's angered voice brought Xavier back to the real world. Xavier blinked.

"I'm sorry. I was just a little…preoccupied." He said, casting a glance at Kitty, who started to blush.

"Yeah, well, if ya done bein' 'preoccupied', Ah would liake an explanation! Where is Kurt?" Demanded Rogue, crossing her arms over her chest. Storm gave both Logan and Xavier a look that clearly read, " You can't make me." The Professor sighed. Since he was the only one who knew what had happened with Celebro, he knew that it was his responsibility to tell his students what had happened to their friend. 

" Kurt never came home from his detention. When I called Principle Dakholme, she told me that Kurt had left school over three hours before."

"So? That Mystique is like, a self-centered, lying bi-"

"Kitty!"

"Sorry, but all I'm saying is that she might not telling the whole truth. What if she has him locked up somewhere? What if she's hurt him?"

"I would usually agree with you, Kitty, but this time, I believe that Mystique is telling the truth." Kitty opened her mouth to argue, but the professor gave her a stern look and she closed her mouth.

"As I was saying, since Kurt was obviously not home and not at school, we decided to use Celebro to try and find him." That got Logan and Storm's attention. Neither of them knew what Xavier had seen, and they both hoped that Kurt had only decided to go get drunk on some milkshakes.

" I have reason to believe that Kurt is being held against his will and that his life is in danger." Xavier ignored the collective gasp that went up in the room, and the looks of terror in his pupils' eyes.

" What I saw in Celebro was probably one of the most horrific places I have ever seen," he continued, "A place that people would call a 'Freak Show.' Whatever it is, I fear that Kurt is being used in some other way than bait."

Professor Xavier fell silent, remembering the mutants he had seen locked up in cages and the scream of pains that had ripped through his mind. 

"We have to find him," Kitty whispered. Scott nodded.

"The problem is, where to start?" he said grimly.

Kurt had never experience so much pain in his entire, short life. The soreness of his bruised chest, the humiliation of being forced to wear rags and prance around in a cramped, filthy cage, the heart-wrenching agony of having people stare at him, pointing and snickering to themselves.

"Hey, Furry!" someone from the large crowd yelled. Kurt refused to turn. 

"Hey, Furry, I'm talkin' to ya!" The voice grew louder, like it was right in front of him. Stealing a quick look out of the corner of his eyes, Kurt realized that his harassers were just a bunch of football playing jerks from his school. Kurt had often seen them walking through the halls, acting all high and mighty and-wait, was that that JV Quarter back over there? No, wait, nope, wasn't him. _Good._ Kurt thought angrily, _That is the last thing I need, to see the boy who is taking Kitty to the dance. Even though I don't care. _Kurt was shaken out of his short self-conversation by another "Hey, Furry!" 

The voice belonged to the jock with dark hair, nearer to his left. He and his redheaded companion were eating hotdogs and jeering at the blue-fuzzed freak in front of them. Kurt felt his stomach tightened. He hadn't eaten since he had gotten to this hell-hole. How long had it been now? Days? Weeks? Years? Who knew. Kurt fingered the odd collar around his neck. He had realized that as long as he had the collar on, he wouldn't be able to use his powers. The problem was, there didn't seem to be a way to take the collar off. 

"Hey, Fuzzy, do something interesting!" _Mein Gott, are they all here just to torture me?_ Kurt thought miserably to himself. 

Obviously, Jock #1 and #2 thought so.

"What a rip-off! We paid a lot to see this, and all we get is some big Smurf wannabe." The dark haired one complained. He threw his hotdog at Kurt with contempt. The hotdog would've hit Kurt's ear if he hadn't ducked.

"Hey, lookathat!" The redhaired one shouted. "Do it again, Dan!" Dan bent down and scooped up a handful of rocks. Without warning, he flung one like a softball, headed straight for Kurt's head. Once again, Kurt ducked. Dan threw another rock and Kurt ducked again.

"Cool!" Dan's companion shouted and picked up a fistful of stones. Pretty soon, the whole group was throwing rocks. Poor Kurt ducked and dived and did anything to miss being hit by the sharp stones.

When an especially large and sharp stone hit him on the side of his head, Kurt knew his luck had run out. He fell, clutching his head as blood seeped through his three fingered hand. He knew he wouldn't be able to dodge the rocks now.

But the rocks never came. Kurt glanced up and saw the group of boys staring at him.

"Whoa." Breathed one of the other jocks.

"Aren't freaks supposed to have, like, black blood or something?" Dan whispered.

"This is freaky."

"Let's get out of here."

As the group left, Kurt smiled a little. At least they had _some_ humanity left. But for how long?

" Hurry, mein friends." Kurt muttered. "I don't know how much longer I can hold."

"Any leads?" Scott whispered quietly. The five of them were sitting at their regular lunch table, still trying to figure out where Kurt was. It had been about two weeks since he had disappeared. The teachers were giving them hell for it. Kitty's environmental science teacher, who was also Kurt's biology teacher, had asked her where Kurt was, and was he alright?

"Um…yeah!" Kitty had stammered. "He, um…he's got cramps." Ms. LuVie had only raised an eyebrow to this response.

"Kurt hasn't been to school for the past two weeks because of _cramps_?" She had replied in a disbelieving tone.

"Well, they're really… bad… cramps." Kitty had said sheepishly, and then quickly added, "We think he has food poisoning. Never know what they put in those German bratwurst's or whatever." 

"Oh!" Ms. LuVie's disbelieving manner suddenly lifted. "That poor boy. You tell him to get well soon, alright? I remember when I had a bad can of tapioca. Took me weeks to-"

"Kitty!" Scott's harsh voice snapped her back to reality.

"Sorry." Scott gave her a hard look. Kitty looked away, ashamed. Evan grabbed her hand and glared back at Scott. 

"Look, man, you're not the only one worried about Kurt, ok?" he said angrily. Kitty gave him a small smile of appreciation. Scott sighed.

"I know, but still…" his voice trailed off. Everyone knew what he was thinking; What if it was too late?

_It's not too late!_ Kitty's mind screamed. _He's ok! He'll be fine and he'll come home and be obnoxious and annoying and funny and make me laugh and…_Kitty bit her bottom lip. Up until now, she didn't fully realize how much she missed Kurt. _Kurt, you furry blue idiot, where the hell are you?_ She thought sadly.

"Ok, well, don't give up. Keep your eyes and ears open for anything that might give us a hint about where Kurt might be. Jean, have you found anything about any freak shows in the area?" Jean shook her head.

"Nothing. Whoever took Kurt is hiding him well." She said bitterly. Scott sighed again.

"Ok, well, keep trying everyone." He looked around at the downcast faces around him and for the hundredth time noticed the empty spot next to him. _We need Kurt ._Scott thought. _More than we ever realized. You're our way of forgetting about the real world. You're the one who helped us laugh through the hard times. Come home safe, buddy._

From a shaded window, a blue-skinned woman smiled at the group of five teenagers huddled together at the lunch table.

"Just you wait, X-men." She purred. "Just you wait."


	4. Secrets

Author's note: Yeah, chapter four! Ok, this will be the last chapter for a week, cause I'm starting a new one plus I need a break! All this Kurt being hurt is getting me depressed! But, anyhow, since I'm not that big a talker, here you are! 

Title: Disappearance

Author: Soli

Rating: PG-13/R for angst

Coupling: Kurt/Kitty, a little bit of Scott/Jean

Summary: When Kurt is kidnapped, the rest of the X-men have to save him….before it's too late ****

Dedication: Ok, I'd like to thank Quatre Bunny for all her support and Garurublue, who has been my greatest fan/supporter and friend since I started this. Hell, she even gave up Kurt so you guys can read this! Thanks, Blue! I'd also l;ike to thank my friends Erin and Sarah for helping me out. Now, without further ado, here's-* chapter four! Chapter four: Secrets

            To those who have never seen a meeting of the Brotherhood, the sight might be strange to your eyes. It is a small gathering of odd-looking creatures who all hide under the cloak of darkness. If you were to look closer you may make out the outline of a teenager boy squatting on the table, who flicks his tongue out now and then when the occasional bug passes him by. To his left is a very tall obese junior, who looks stupider than he really is. His blond mohawk made his cheeks looked even chubbier and his giant hands covered a good fifth of the table. The last member, a muscular boy with floppy brown hair, was leaning against the way with his arms crossed over his chest in the traditional "Bad Boy" position.

            "What does she want, anyway?" Toad grumbled, eyeing a fruit fly that had found its way over to Avalanche's backpack. The brown-haired boy looked up.

            " If I find one drop of slime on that bag, Toad…" He left his voice trail off, implying just how bad the thrashing would be. Todd, or "Toad" as people called him, snorted.

            "You really should talk with Dakholme, Lance, you two just have so much in common." The blonde boy broke out into a grin, until Lance gave him a warning glance. Turning his attention back to Todd, Lance grinned, and raised his foot. Todd's eyes widen, and he jumped off the table to the opposite wall just all the foot made contact with the floor. Looking back, Todd felt his frog-like body tense. The desk was split right in half, right where he had been crouching moments earlier. Avalanche smiled.

            " Don't call me Lance." He said smugly.

            " That's enough." A cold voice came from the corner of the room. The boys glanced around nervously. To them, that voice was like God's; you don't dare ignore it.

            A blue woman with red hair slipped out of the shadows. She was clothed in a fitted white dress that matched her eyes. A frown of disapproval marred her pretty face, a frown that marred her face far too often. She cast her disapproving glare on boys, making it obvious that she was not pleased with them.

            "Mystique." Todd stated more than greeted. Mystique gave him a cold glare in return.

            " I expect you to replace my desk as soon as possible. If I find that any of you have destroyed anything else that costs more than your measly lives, I will personally see each of you off back to jail. Do you understand?" A chores of "Yes, ma'ams" followed her short speech.

            "Good. There cannot be any more fooling around. This chance may be our only one, so we can't afford to lose it. If we fail, then we may fail for the last time." 

            The teenage mutants looked nervous once again. Even Mystique looked a bit apprehensive. Avalanche cleared his throat.

            "So, um, what's the plan?"

            "The plan, as you so crudely put it, is to wait. The X-Men are taking an unusually long time to find their friend. We may even have to start dropping clues in order for them to figure it out." 

            "And the monkey? What about Monkey Ugly?" Mystique's eyes flashed.

            " Although I understand your resentment, Toad, I warn you not to insult Nightcrawler again. Remember, he is half mine, and whatever you say about his looks reflects on me too." Toad just grunted, but kept his mouth closed. Mystique continued.

            "Now, when the X-Men _do_ finally find out where Nightcrawler is, we will be waiting. I've ordered a strict watch kept on the place, so we will be notified the second they get there. You know what to do from there." The boys nodded. Mystique smiled. 

            "Good." With that, the blue-skinned woman changed into a tall, brown-haired Caucasian. 

            " I have a PTA meeting. Stay here, and make sure that none of the X-Men try find us out."

            After she had left, Toad jumped off the wall.

            "He is half mine, and what ever you say about his looks reflect on me too." He mocked. He stuck out his long purple tongue at the closed door.

            "Well, she's right. They're both big blue and ugly." Avalanche cracked. His two companions burst out laughing. The rest of the night was spent insulting the group leader and her spider-monkey son.

            Jenkins watched ass his new addition wrapped a bandage around his blue head. The kid was definitely reeling in the dough. Before, no one had heard of or wanted to come to his little freak show, but now that he had an acrobatic blue, humanoid monkey as the star, well, that changed their minds. 

            Needless to say, Jenkins used "Furry's" talents to make even more money. The bags of marbles had sold like hotcakes, especially after people realized that it was almost impossible for them to hit their blue-furred target. Yep, this kid was definitely a keeper.

            Now, the only problem was what to feed him. He tried every kind of pet food he had, but nothing worked. One of his workers suggested raw meat, but the freak hadn't touched that either. Jenkins was starting to get worried; A dead freak meant less cash, and the death of this freak meant no more business. 

            _Well, he talked once. I'll just hafta get him to talk again. _he decided. Walking over to Kurt's cage, Jenkin's slammed the handle of his broom on the bars.  The freak looked up.

            "Hey, kid, what do you eat?" Bluntness was always the best way to get something answered. The kid just looked at him blankly.

            " I said, what do you eat?" Jenkins raised his voice a little bit louder. No answer.

            "Damnit, you answer me, you little freak, before I beat the crap out of ya!" Jenkins screamed, his pale face turning a bright shade of ed. The kid narrowed his yellow eyes.

            "Kurt." Jenkins stared.

            "You eat Kurt? What the hell is Kurt?"

            "No! My name is Kurt. Not freak, not fuzzy, not monkey, Kurt." 

            Jenkins stared at the mon-Kurt. His voice seemed to have some sort of accent to it-maybe German? Wait, who cared what kind of accent this "Kurt" had? He was a freak! Freaks don't have accents!

            "So?" Jenkins leered at the boy. Kurt blinked, and turned away. Jenkins felt the smirk drip off his face. He actually felt sorta…bad. 

            _Whoa, wait!_ The burly man thought to himself. This was getting to confusing. After all, who cared about freaks? They were there for two reasons; for money and for scapegoats. 

            Jenkins turned to leave, but glanced over his shoulder, getting one more glimpse at the freak named Kurt. _Maybe…_he thought, then shook his head.

            Kitty was watching "Star Wars, Episode I." Usually, she wouldn't be caught dead watching that kind of stuff, but, well, it was Kurt's favorite. Kitty figured that, maybe if she watched Kurt's favorite movie, it could give her hope about seeing her fuzzy blue friend again. So far, it wasn't working.

            " Weesa make you bombad gerneral!" The fat amphibian guy clapped another, skinner amphibian guy on the shoulder. 

            Kitty burst into tears.

            _Damn you, Kurt, where the hell are you? _She thought angrily and miserably to herself. The doorbell rang.

            "I'll get it" Her voiced cracked. As she wiped her eyes and hurried to the door, she wished again that it was Kurt standing outside.

            _He'll smile and laugh and say he was just blowing off some steam and then he'll tell a joke and make me laugh and he'll bamf everywhere and scare me and it'll be just like old times. _She thought desperately, unconsciously fixing her hair. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

            No one was there.

            Kitty leaned against the doorway and took a deep breath. This was too much. How much more hoping could she do before it was all dashed? How many more times would she hear the doorbell or the phone ring and hope it was Kurt, only to feel destroyed when it wasn't? How many-

            That's when Kitty noticed the box. Wiping her eyes, she bent over and picked it up. It wasn't very special, just a regular brown cardboard box. Kinda dirty and a little…slimy. _Ewww_…she thought, and opened it up. 

            There, silver shining and broken, lay Kurt's watch. Hands trembling, Kitty picked up the note inside and read it, lips moving along with the words.

              _Tick Tock, Time's running out. –HOE.___


	5. Mind Games

Author's note:

At last!! Soli has come out of the dark, evil pit which is her boarding school and writes! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!! Heheheh. J/k. Anyho, sorry for the delay, but thanks to all who wrote reviews and a very very special thanks to one author (you know who you are) who even mention my story in hers! YOU GO GURL!!!!!!!!! Well, by now you want me to shut up and go away: *-( so you can read this story…. pooh on you!!!!!! J 

Title: Disappearance

Author: Soli

Rating: PG-13/R for angst

Coupling: Kurt/Kitty, a little bit of Scott/Jean

Summary: When Kurt is kidnapped, the rest of the X-men have to save him….before it's too late

Dedication: To my ex-boyfriend, Obi. Thanks for all the good times. 

Chapter 5: Mind Games

_Freak._

_No._

_Nothing but a freak._

_Stop it. _

_That's all you are._

_I said stop it!_

_That's all you've ever been._

_Shut up!_

_And that's all you'll ever be._

_That's not true. I am so much more._

_Like what?_

_I have friends. I have family. I have love._

_Then where is your friends, your family, your love right now?_

_I…I don't know._

_You know. You know because you never had any of that._

_I did! I DO! _

_You don't._

_Go away!_

_They left you. They left you here because this is where you belong. _

_No. The X-Men would never do that to me!_

_The X-Men don't care about freaks._

_Kitty wouldn't do this to me._

_Kitty doesn't care about freaks. She cares about people like her_

_I…I know._

_The X-Men care about people like them._

_I am like them._

_You'll never be like them._

_…_

_They left you._

_…Yes._

_Freak._

_…Yes._

_A freak in a freak show. Welcome home._

The grandfather clock in the hallway chimed one o' clock AM. It's soft bell danced down the corridor, ringing off the walls. Through the whole mansion the chimes could be heard, chimes meant only for the night's ears. But on this particular night, the chimes were shared with more than one other pair of ears.

Professor Xavier hadn't gotten much sleep the past two days. Ever since Kitty had found the package with Kurt's watch three weeks ago the whole team had been up day and night trying to find any traces of the missing teammate. Tests had been run, fingerprints looked for, mental checks trying to pick up any sort of reading. Nothing had turned up.

_Whomever we are dealing with certainly is cautious. _A tired Professor X thought to himself. Although he knew that the term "into thin air" was only an expression, it seemed to be the perfect way to describe Kurt's disappearance. The X-men had been searching for two and a half months now, and their only clue was a broken watch and a taunting note.Xavier had had to write a note to school saying that Kurt's "cramps" had gotten worse and that He, Xavier, had decided it was better for Kurt to go back to Germany for a short break. 

All the teachers had shown nothing but complete and absolute sympathy for his group of students. That is, all but Principle Dakholme. 

There was something strange about that woman. When the Professor had called her up to notify her about Kurt's absence he could practically see thesmirk on her face.

"Oh, really?" She had replied, mildly interested. The Professor's feeling of irritation grew slightly.

"Yes. Unfortunately, I have no idea how long it will take for him to recover."

"Oh, really?" Dakholme had repeated. The smirk was definitely there. 

_Perhaps I was wrong about Mystique not knowing anything._ Xavier thought grimly, rethinking about the conversation. He and his X-men had been so used to the Brotherhood making mistakes that they had outruled the possibility that, perhaps, the Brotherhood was indeed capable of pulling off a flawless plan. Except now there _was_ a flaw. What if the Brotherhood had counted on the X-men belief that they (the Brotherhood) had made too many mistakes to pull off the perfect plan?

Xavier grabbed Cerebro with a new-found excitement. There was work to be down.

_Snap!_

Lance jolted awake, only to curse himself from falling asleep in the first place. Since leaving the watch on the X-men's doorstep Mystique had ordered that the place where the blue guy was hidden be watched twenty-four seven. Unfortunately, that also meant night watches' on school nights. 

" Oh, man, three in the morning!" Lance muttered after checking his watch. Dakholme would kill him if she found out he had falling asleep. Which was the just the reason he didn't plan on telling her.

_Snap!_

Lance glanced up sharply. The sound seemed to have some from near the entrance. Peaking out a little from his hiding place, Lance could almost see the shadow of someone. Maybe two someone's. 

_Snap!_

_Whoever it is, they sure are loud._ He thought, shoving his floppy brown hair out of his eyes. Grabbing is flashlight, Lance started creeping towards the shadows.

It was definitely two someones. One of them, probably a girl, had his/her hair in a ponytail. As Lance crept closer, he could hear very faint whispers, but couldn't make out any words. Deciding he was close enough, he whipped out his flashlight and turned it on.

The two people caught in the beam looked like frozen deer. Lance felt his mouth twist into a sneer.

"You!"

Author's notw_ I know, I know, this isn't a very great chapter with a cliché cliffhanger, but I PROMISE it'll get better!!!!!

Check ya later!

Soli

PS. Vote for me for best X-Men evolution fic!!


	6. Changes

Author's note:

 Ok, so chap. 5 obviously bit. Gomen!!!!! But, please, please, please, please, PLEASE review!!! Anyho, thanks to all who reviewed, especially GaruruBlue and QuatreBunny who have been kind enough to review almost every chapter! You guys are great! I'd also like to thank my pals Erin, Molly, Cathy, Taber and Becks! Thanks for all the support you guys!!! Anyho (I luv that word! Anyho, anyho, anyho…) here is…..

Title: Disappearance

Author: Soli

Rating: PG-13/R for angst

Coupling: Kurt/Kitty, a little bit of Scott/Jean

Summary: When Kurt is kidnapped, the rest of the X-men have to save him….before it's too late

Dedication: To Liz, my Spike-loving other half. I love you to pieces and I don't think anyone has ever made me laugh as much as you have. I love you!

Chapter Six: Changes

Posters of Beatles covered the baby blue walls. CD's scattered around the floor, in or out of their cases. Gymnastics trophies decorated the shelves, some won as late as last year, some as early as six months ago. Photos of family and friends scattered on the messy bureau. One of them had a large yellow blotch on it, like tea or soda had been spilled on its colorful face. Scott looked closer and grinned. Figures. It was a picture of Kitty and that JV quarterback. Of course, Kurt being the wonderfully jealous teen that he was, the drink had conveniently landed only on the quarterback. 

For the past few hours Scott Summers had pawing through the contents of Kurt's room, trying to get reacquainted with his best friend through materialistic things. Funny as that sounded, there wasn't one object in the room that didn't scream "KURT!" No, wait, everything except for that weird stain on the carpet. That pretty much screamed "CHINESE TAKEOUT!"

Chinese takeout. Scott remembered the first time he had gotten Chinese takeout with Kurt. Scott had ordered Bird's Nest. Kurt, having never heard of Chinese food before, much less tasted it, spent the rest of dinner time accusing Scott of being an "animal home-wrecker" and that "He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself" because "who knew how long it took for those poor birdies to build that nest." Scott laughed at the memory of Kurt's bright red ears once the German boy had found out exactly _what_ Bird's Nest was made out of. Of course, the group had waited until _after _dinner to tell him. They were laughing too hard to tell him earlier.

That wasn't the only memory the room held. For example, the slightly tarnished silver trophy stood out among its larger golden companions had been the first trophy Kurt had ever won, and Scott remembered the ecstatic look on his holographic face when it had been awarded to him. The stuffed blue kitten on top of the pillow had been a comforting gift from Kitty when Kurt and Rogue had found out that Mystique was their mother. The many empty bags with the Burger King logo in the trash reminded Scott of Kurt's love for fast food. Scott picked up one of the more familiar pictures from Kurt's bureau. It was a picture of himself, looking like a human shaped sundae. 

It had been the king of pranks. Kurt had run up to Scott's run howling about the injustice of life. Scott, believing that someone had discovered Kurt's secret, ran out side and into a large slippery puddle. 

Unlike mud or chocolate syrup, caramel is much stickier and has a habit of sticking in all the wrong places. Blinded by the sweet coating, Scott tried repeatedly to get up, only to fall back down again.

"Like I said, the injustice of life." An amused accented voice had called out from the sidelines.

"Kurt! I'm going to rip your fur out!" Scott had hollered, and promptly fell again. Kurt laughed, along with several other people. Scott groaned. Great.

"Ya know, sugah, Ah really think gold jest ain't ya color." Rogue giggled. "What do you think, Kitty?"

"Well, I'd have to go with brown."

"Or red," Evan chirped up.

"Blue?" Kurt suggested. 

"Green."

"No, yellow!"

Suddenly, Scott knew what would be coming next.

"You guys wouldn't. You couldn't."

The hail of M&M's hit almost before he had finished his sentence.

Scott smiled. That had been one hell of a day. For the first time, the entire group had been able to forget that they were mutants, that they were humanities worst enemy and be able to do the one thing each of them longed to do-be regular kids. Before, Scott would have given anything to be able to feel that way again. Now, he'd give it up and more if only to have his best friend back.

*******************************************************************************

"What do you want?" Lance growled, more than a little irritated. The taller figure in the flashlight's beam grinned.

" Hey, hey, take it easy. I just wanted to show my girl that blue freaky thingy." Dan replied, lowering his arms. The blonde girl wearing the maroon varsity football jacket (_the usual cheerleader/jock cliché_, Lance noted in disgust.) sniffed.

"Anyway, it's so totally none of your business." She said in one of those holier-than-thou kinds of voices. Lance snorted.

"I think it is, miss pretty pretty princess." He jeered. Dan took a step towards him.

"Back off, punk. No one speaks to my girl like that."

"No one speaks to your girl at all."

"Why you little-"

"Leave now or I call the cops." Lance told them coolly. "Princess" smirked.

"No you won't. We're not the only ones who aren't supposed be here."

"Wrong." Lance reached in his back pocket and pulled out a plain plastic card. "I work here. Night Watchman. I kick the bad guys off my turf." Lance smirked at the nervous looks creeping up the faces of the other teens. "And right now, you're on my turf."

Dan laughed nervously. "Hey, hey, no need for threats, bro, we're going. Right, Britney?"

_Britney. What a typical blond ho name._ Lance thought as Britney opened her mouth to whine. Dan grabbed her arm.

"Right. See ya, bro." Dan called over his shoulder, dragging his girlfriend with him. Lance felt his muscles relax a little. It was a good thing Mystique had gotten these fake work cards. Even though it probably wouldn't have hurt to let them in, Lance decided it was good that he hadn't taken the chance. Glancing at his watch again, he groaned inwardly. Three-thirty AM. Now, where could he get a good cup of Joe at this hour?

*****************************************************************************

He wasn't scared. He wasn't scared at all.

_Aw, hell, who am I kiddin'? _Jenkins thought to himself. He was scared out of his mind.

It had been different when he thought that the kid was just a freak, like any of the other freaks in his show. But something was different with this one. Sure he was a mutant, and an obvious one at that, but he was something else too. He was human.

Jenkins had arrived that morning to see the kid-what did he call himself? Kurt?- to see Kurt laying on his side, staring into nothingness. Jenkins had felt a pang of worry at first, but pushed the feeling away when he saw Kurt blink. There was a show to run, people to let in, money to make. He had no time to think about what was wrong with his pitiful excuse of an ape. But then when his customers started complaining, Jenkins decided to check out the situation himself. 

Kurt hadn't moved from his position. Jenkins watched as a group of kids pelted the mutants with fairly large stones. Kurt still didn't move.

"Worthless freak." Someone from the crowd yelled. Murmurs of agreement filled the hot room. Jenkins thought he saw a flicker of emotion in those yellow eyes. 

_No, now your imaging things._ He scoffed at himself. Still, the feeling of uneasiness wouldn't go away. After all, if this kid cold talk, could walk, had a name and had a family, didn't that classify him as human?

If he died, wouldn't that classify as murder?

"Ok, everybody out!" he started yelling. "Move it, everyone out." Complaints started coming from all sides. "Don't worry, you'll all get a fifty percent refund." He amended. The complaints thinned out but were still there.

When the last person left, Jenkins turned to the furred boy in the cage.

"Now, you listen hear." He said in a low voice that he hoped sounded threatening. "Consider yourself lucky. I don't do that for any of my other freaks." Jenkins watched the boy's eyes close at the word "freak" but he continued. 

"I'll give you the rest off the day off, but that's it. You better be back on you're feet tomorrow. This place is for attractions, and if you ain't gonna be one…" he let his voice trail off, implying something that, deep down, he knew he was too scared to do. Sure, freaks shows weren't exactly the most legal thing nowadays, and he was sure kidnapping (_or "borrowing"_ Jenkins amended) the kid wasn't all that legal either. But still…murder? 

"You better be on your feet." Jenkins repeated, with a little bit of uneasiness in his voice.

He turned away, knowing that a large crowd of angry customers would be outside waiting for him, demanding their money. Jenkins sighed as he imagined all those beautiful money signs flying away.

Behind him, Kurt closed his eyes.

Author's note: Like always. Review!


	7. Dark of the Night

Author's note: 

Ohmigawd, is it really August?!?!?!? WOW!!!!!! You guys, you are _amazing_, I can't believe the amount of reviews I've gotten these past months! Well, people should be rewarded, so here you are, you wonderful people you! Your prayers have been answered! 'Disappearance' lives! MWAHAHAHAHA * cough, cough, hack * 

Title: Disappearance

Author: Soli

Rating: PG-13/R for angst

Coupling: Kurt/Kitty, a little bit of Scott/Jean

Summary: When Kurt is kidnapped, the rest of the X-men have to save him….before it's too late

Dedication: To XshellsparkX. May you one day find that all-girl boarding school of your dreams. They could use a guy like you.

Chapter 7: "Dark of the Night."

The room was so dark.

Then again, the room usually was dark when it was three A.M. The little light from the window cast a long shadow across the room. Everything was silent except for the light snoring coming from the left half of the room. Everything was dark except for the moonlight reflecting on sorrowful brown eyes.

Kitty shivered in the night's chill and wrapped herself tightly in her pink cocoon of a blanket. She was tired, so very tired, but she couldn't close her eyes. Every time she did, all she saw was him. His warm eyes, so full of mischief and compassion, stared at her with warmth and some akin -but more- than friendship. He would tilt his head in that certain way of his, so that the two long locks of hair that framed his furry face brushed across his eyes, almost hiding them from view. Then he would smile at her, that cute heart-breaking smile that showed off his little canines. 

God, he was so beautiful. He would lean towards her, parting his lips slightly, ever so slightly…

Then the blood would trickle down his chin and from his eyes, and Kurt, her Kurt but not her Kurt, would start screaming.

And as she watched, horrified, blood would spurt from a hundred different wounds and Kurt would fall to the floor, red stained eyes staring at her accusingly, as if the sudden bleeding was her fault.

She always felt it was.

Kitty shivered again. This time it had nothing to do with the coldness of the room. Rogue's snoring could still be heard, and the shadows were still cast on the carpeted floor. If she concentrated hard enough, it looked like the shadows were moving…

Large, brown eyes widened. The shadows _were _moving.

Fearfully, she moved her eyes upward to the figured cloaked in the darkness. At first she saw nothing. She started to doubt that she had really seen the shadows move. Almost.

Then an outline became clear. Almost as if an invisible hand had taken up a pencil and was drawing a figure that became clearer and clearer as he continued. A familiar figure, one that she knew…

_Oh, God._

"Keety." 

It was as if she had lost control of her body. Kitty found herself frantically trying to untangle herself from the blanket she had bound herself in not too long ago. She had managed to get her arms loose when she remembered her phasing powers and nearly groaned out loud, cursing herself for forgetting. She had wasted time, so much time…

The figure stepped from the shadows as Kitty fell off the bed. From her place on the floor, Kitty found herself staring at familiar two-toed feet. Her eyes slowly wandered up, devouring the crooked legs, the lanky frame, the softly parted lips, and finally, the yellow eyes, still filled with warmth. Warmth for her.

"Kurt," she croaked out, barely trusting her own voice. Kurt smiled that wonderful, tooth-revealing smile. But he didn't move, didn't give her a hand up.

"Kurt?" She asked again, confused as she scrambled up. Kurt just continued smiling continued looking at her with those warm eyes.

"Is it really you?" Across the room, Rogue groaned and rolled over. Kurt didn't even spare her a glance.

"Of course, Keety. You can't get rid of me that easily," his smile widened as the German lithe filled the room. Kitty smiled, not realizing tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"Kurt," she half-choked, half-whispered. After three months of worrying, three months of fear that she would never see him again, he was here. He was here!

"Vell, I've been gone so long, and I don't even get a hug. Really, Keety, I'm insulted," he was teasing her, she knew it. He flung his arms wide, grinning madly. She laughed, wiping tears on the back of her hand before flinging herself into his embrace…

And found herself once again on the floor. Stunned, she scrambled to her feet and turned around.

No Kurt.

"Damn you Kurt, that was so totally…" Kitty stopped and sniffed the air. The ever present smell of brimstone that was there when Kurt _bamfed!_ was not there now. There was no smoke present. It was like he had not been there at all.

Cold realization swept over her as she realized the truth in her thoughts.

Kurt hadn't been there. 

He hadn't been hiding in the shadows. He hadn't given her his wide toothy grin, or looked had her with his warm yellow eyes. He hadn't teased her, hadn't said her name, hadn't tried to hug her. 

He hadn't.

Kitty sank to the floor, tears streaming down her pretty face. Was she losing her mind?

"Kittay?" The sleepy Southern drawl was not enough to arouse Kitty from her place on the floor. 

"You alriaght, hun?" Tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

"I'm fine, Rogue," Was the quiet reply. "Go back to sleep,"

A half-hearted grunt before the familiar rhythm of snoring was all Kitty heard from her roommate. 

She sat on the floor the rest of the night, staring at the floor, not moving, barely breathing.

In front of her, the shadows danced. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Across the town, another figure was spending a sleepless night. A blue-skinned woman in lighter blue bathrobe was staring out the wall windows of her room. Her normally loose red hair was twisted up in a high bun, and her yellow eyes stared at the bright city lights below. She clutched the mug of tea tightly, sloshing the hot liquid on the carpet as her hands shook.

It had been a mistake to go and see him.

He had looked so broken, so beaten. He had just lain there, not noticing the rocks that the crowd had thrown at him, or the blood trickling down his side. And his eyes…

She shuddered again. She had forced that pathetic excuse of a human to evacuate everyone from the room. She had leered at the broken boy, taunting him, offering to stop his pain. All he had to do was say it, do it, join himself to her side. 

He had stared at her, eyes blank, devoid of any emotion. She had shivered then, her will to continue fading, until there was not enough left for her to go on.

She had turned away; telling him that she would be back.

But could she go back?

All she wanted was he little boy. It was all any mother wanted, to have her child with her. She had begged, pleaded, cried for him, but all her tears had been wasted. He would not turn, would not come back to her. And so, she had turned desprete.

If heart-felt emotions wouldn't work, then maybe brute force would.

She had been convinced that if she could break him he would come back to her. So she had him captured and put in the place that mutants feared most.

The freak show. A place where they were looked upon as what they all really were. Freaks.

He son had been no exception. Of course, he had been resistant; refusing to give up the hope that his friends would come for him. But then the days past and the hope dimmed, before it died all together. She had succeeded.

He was broken.

But he was no longer her son.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

"Scott! Hey, Scott, wait up!" 

Scott felt the familiar mental tug on his mind and stopped. Behind him, Jean had finally caught up. Her long red hair was slightly askew, and her cheeks were flushed.

"Hey, Scott, what's wrong? I've been calling you for nearly five minutes,"

"Sorry," he apologized, looking into her eyes from behind ruby glasses. "I was…thinking," A look of sympathy and understanding passed in Jean's blue eyes. She touched his shoulder as Scott looked away.

"We'll find him," she said quietly, caressing his mind with hers. He leaned into her, allowing her to hold him, mentally and physically. He was tired. He knew that, but there was nothing he could do. Nothing to do but look. And hope.

And on that day, God must have taken pity, and sent the answer to their prayers in the form of a dumb jock.

"It was so cool! I mean, we just kept throwing and he kept on ducking. He was so freaky looking too! All blue and furry with that weird tail…"

Scott thought he was hearing things. He thought he was going insane.

Jean's nails digging into his arm told him otherwise.

There was a large group of students crowded along the lockers, hiding the face that the voice belonged to. Together, Scott and Jean pushed pash the protesting students, making their way to the front, where Dan Ashton was retelling the story of his close encounter with a blue, furry monkey-like freak. His girlfriend, Britney, has clinging to him like a second skin, giggling and shrieking in all the wrong places. Scott grimaced. Dan noticed.

"Aww, what's wrong, Scotty-boy?" He sneered. Typical jock, thinking he was all high-and-mighty. Scott glowered. Dan grinned even more. Jean squeezed Scott's hand and turned to Dan, smiling flirtingly.

" Y'know, Dan, you make it sounds _so_ intense," She gushed, hating herself for it. But it was getting the desired effect. Dan beamed. Britney scowled.

"Well, your in luck, Jean," Dan chuckled, fishing around in his maroon football jacket. He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and, ignoring the look of daggers his girlfriend was giving him, gave it shyly to Jean, who accepted it with a brilliant smile. Dan blushed. Scott glowered some more.

"Wow! Gee, thanks, Dan! Well, I've really got to go, chores, you know," She winked and Dan blushed deeper. Jean grabbed Scott's arm and forced her way out of the crowd, ignore the shrieks of anger and desprete attempts at appeasement going on behind her.

They ran. 

They ran as fast as they could, wanting to find some private place, both feeling the need to cherish the moment in a sort of secrecy. So they ran, and didn't stop running until they reached the woods.

By that time, they were both winded. Their cheeks were flushed, and Scott collapsed, his legs refusing to support him anymore. Jean fell to her knees beside him, her hands trembling, still clutching the crumpled yellow paper.

"Oh, God, Scott, I'm so scared," She whispered. "I'm so scared of finding out where he is,"

Scott looked at her with furrowed brows. She felt his confusion tickle her mind, and she wiped away her tears.

"I'm so scared that Kurt's somewhere he doesn't deserve to be," she explained. "I'm scared that he's somewhere having things done to him that he doesn't deserve,"

Scott smiled and grasped her hands gently. Jean felt his strength flow into hers, and her tears started to dry up.

"There' only one way to find out," he told her gently. She nodded.

Together, they opened the precious paper, smoothing out the wrinkles and holding it under the light. Together they read the bold letters and glanced of the photocopied picture. Together they felt the pool of dread swallow them whole, and felt the tears run down their cheeks.

Hell On Earth

See a world of nature's mistakes.

Beneath the writing was a picture what looked like a spider-monkey with a mop of longish hair. He wore rags and looked thin, hunched over. What looked like a metal collar hung from his neck, and his wrists were shackled. But their attention was drawn to the eyes, eyes that they didn't remember. There was a blankness in those eyes, the usual spark of life gone. They were dead eyes, dark eyes, eyes they didn't know. It was him, but it was not him.

It was Kurt.

TO BE CONTINUED…..

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	8. Losers Weepers

Author's Note: 

Hey, everyone! What is up? Sorry I haven't updated, but you know that I can't   resist a request! Well, as the story is starting to wind down, as of three or four  more chapters, I'd like to say that once the story is finished I will be re-writing everything into the same format and correcting editing and stuff. Someone mentioned that every part is in a different font, which I'm not liking, and a different size, which I am also not liking. So, by request, I will be re-doing this and sending it out to different sites! V-kewl, no? Well, I am also in the process of writing a BUFFY FIC!!! Yeah Buffy! So, now that I've shamelessly promoted my other fanfic, let me say three words before you go off and read the chapter. Spike. Is. GORGEOUS!!!!!!!

Title: Disappearance

Author: Soli

Rating: PG-13/R for angst

Coupling: Kurt/Kitty, a little bit of Scott/Jean

Summary: When Kurt is kidnapped, the rest of the X-men have to save him….before it's too late

Dedication: This particular chapter is dedicated to the following people-

Molls- For being one of my best friends and always supporting me. Thank you for understanding my love of cartoon guys and for always just being you. I know exactly what I'd do without you (like, having food, for one J) but, honestly, I'm always proud to say you're my friend.

Suzy Q- Thank you for always telling me how it is, for all the late night (and illegal) talks, and for always giving me a little piece of your floor to sleep on. 

Cathy & Chach- My comedy reliefs. I honestly think I would have thrown half the school out the third floor window had you two not been there to help me see the humor in everything. I am a happier person and more obnoxious than ever, to the relief of the half of the school I wanted to throw out the third floor window.

Lacey- One of my bestest friends in the whole wide world. I don't think I've fought so much with anyone as I have with you. I also don't think I've stolen so much mac & cheese from anyone like I have from you. I will always cherish your friendship, your love, and the way you laughed so friggin' hard when you told everyone how I talk in my sleep. I love you!

Taber- For all the times in Glee where you kept me sane with your first soprano impressions, for all the hugs you've given semi-willingly, and for the time both you and Molls told me how adorable I was on crutches. I love you too!

Jeremy- My little annoying brother, thank you for all the two times you've record Buffy for me, even if you did forget to push the record button or decided DBZ was much more interesting instead.  

Chapter 8: Losers Weepers 

"Hell on Earth. H.O.E. It all fits,"

Professor Xavier smoothed out the flyer for the hundredth time, barely concealing his excitement. His hopeful students sat around the table along with Wolverine and Storm. 

 "Professor, are you sure? I admit, it would be a rather large coincidence, but…" A worried Storm refused to finish her sentence. Her eyes were as hopeful as the others but there was also a sense of realism in the blue orbs. She was not going to put all her eggs in one basket. Not this time.

" No, I'm not, but I am fairly certain," The Professor turned his wheelchair around to turn on Celebro's screen.  Although he could not see their faces, Xavier could feel the confusion radiating for their minds.

" For the past month, as you know, I've been unsuccessfully trying to track Kurt's whereabouts. Night after the night Celebro came up with the same result; nothing," His hands were flying over the keyboard now, and a dark blue base outlined with light blue building structures came into focus on the screen.

"Then, last night, I wondered if maybe I was going about this all wrong. That maybe it wasn't Kurt I was supposed to be tracking. Maybe it was someone else," Three red dots appeared on the screen. Two were together in the upper part of town, but the three was near downtown and moving at a rapid pace. 

"Yes, that is Quicksilver you're seeing," Evan shut his mouth. The red dot was slowly approaching the downtown area known more as the slums. Slowly moving downwards, it passed an abandoned building, a soup kitchen, a…

"Hey, where'd he go?" Evan demanded. The red dot had completely vanished. 

"Exactly, Spyke," The Professor agreed. " Where did he go? This is only a recording of what happened last night. I waited for about twenty minutes, and then this happened." 

With a few clicks of the keys, The Professor fast-forwarded the recording until the red dot emerged. But this time, the dot was moving more slowly, not even at a fifth of the previous speed. The Professor clicked away, and a zoom in of Toad materialized in the upper right hand corner.

" Yes, odd, I know," The Professor turned back to the mutants behind him. "I had no idea where Quicksilver had disappeared to and where Toad had appeared from. Thanks to a little hunch, I found out exactly what the problem was," He turned back to the keyboard.

Suddenly the entire screen was filled with little red dots. Some were moving in a two by two line and were racing all over. Some were going as slow as if they were moving through snowbanks. And some just didn't move.

And then there was a large perfect circle in the slums area, which didn't have a red dot anywhere. Not. One. Speck.

" Oh my god," Jean could barely breath. The Professor nodded.

" They were clever. They knew the X-men had gotten used to the idea that they could never pull off the perfect plan. They used it to their advantage." The Professor's expression was grim. "They thought we wouldn't give them a second glance, or even a first."

"They were right,"

    *****************************  

             _How many days has it been? How long have I been sleeping? Am I really awake? _

_            This place. This place is…what? Is it home? They say it's home. No, not they. Him. Him, there's only him. Who's he? It's…not clear. Nothing's clear. I can't see anything. I can't…I can't make out who's out there._

_ I think I'm dying._

_            Is that bad? I don't remember. I don't think it is, because…because there's a place…a good, warm place, with…with sunshine and…and…what are they called? Fluffies? No, that can't be ri- clouds. They're called clouds. And there are angels and…and beds and warmth and good things. I think I would like it. _

_            I think I felt something. I don't know, I haven't felt anything in so long. The things…that they threw, the…the…things that they threw at me. They used to hurt. Why don't they hurt anymore? Or maybe they still do. I'm not sure._

_            Are they still here? The hum…humans. That's what they call themselves. Humans. Am I human? No, no not…not human. Something else? What?  I…I don't know. _

_            Is it night? I don't know. It's all so gray. Gray is a color. Everything is gray. I'm so tired. Maybe, maybe it's time to go to sleep. Or am I asleep now? I don't remember. _

_            But I'm so tired…so very, very tired…_

                       *****************************  

            She had seen him again.

            It had been a little after the bell rang and she had been headed towards the Physics lab when she saw him outside the Geometry room. 

            He had been leaning heavily on the lockers and looked absolutely exhausted. There were dark circles under his eyes and his lower lip was bleeding. His hair was dirty and messy and the ever-present baggy pants were ripped.

            Never had a boy looked so good.

            She had started to call his name, first softly, in shock, and then with a desperate ring to her voice. The busy crowd didn't notice that she was racing through their arms and legs and backpacks. She never tripped, never fell, was never pushed back. But he was still so far away.

            "Kurt!"

            The crowds were receding now. The bell was poised to ring, waiting for the perfect moment, when a junkie was just about to light up a joint, where a nervous computer whiz was just about to ask out the prom queen, where a bunch of rowdy headbangers were so close to making it to class on time.

            And little Kitty was just about to have her Kurt again, when the shrieking sound of vibrating metal forced her eyes to jerk up in surprise. 

            When she looked back, he was gone.

            "Ms. Pryde?" She didn't turn around. _I won't cry, I won't cry, I won't…_

            "Ms. Pryde, I'm sorry, but did you come looking for Evan? He's not in this class this period, but if you'd like…." The teacher prattled on beside her, but Kitty was not there. She was gone, lost in her own mind, trying to find the scent of brimstone that she knew wasn't there.

            _I won't cry, I won't cry, I won't cry…_

                        *****************************  

            "Tonight. It has to be tonight," Scott Summers poked at the paper bag. He couldn't eat now. Not now, when they were so close. 

            Across the table, Kitty nodded. Up until now, Scott never noticed the yellow pasty look her skin had taken on, or how her eyes were always tinted red. He did now, though. He noticed everything now.

            "Tonight?! Scott, are you crazy? We need a…a plan, we need help," Jean slipped her hand into his and forced him to raise his covered eyes to hers. "We need more time,"

            Scott jerked away. How could she? She, of all people… _calm down, Scott._

            Were those his thoughts or hers?

            "We've had time. Too much time. We've had the past three months to bring Kurt home, and we still haven't," He looked away. It hurt, knowing Kurt had been in trouble for the past few months and that he, Summers, had done nothing. God, it hurt.

            "We need a plan, Scott," was Jean's gentle, yet firm, reply. "Yes, we have let too much time slip by, but that means we can't mess it up now. One wrong move, and we could lose Kurt again, maybe for good,"

            "No," Kitty blinked at the sound of her voice. Since when had it become so hoarse? 

            "We can't," She tried again, but that hoarseness was still there. Deciding that what she had to say was much more important, she continued.

            "We can't lose Kurt again. It's got to stop. All the worry, all the memories, all the…" Suddenly, the loose pink thread on her sweater became painfully interesting. She was going to say "visions." Instead, "It's got to stop." Was her final say. Jean looked at her, motherly instinct kicking in. Kitty only averted her eyes. 

            "So, what do we do, then?" Evan, silent until then, was fiddling around with an empty carton of milk. He made sure not to look at anyone but his hands and the soggy house he was making from the red carton. Rogue watched him, her bagged lunch suddenly not interesting anymore.

            "I don't know," Scott made sure to glare extra long at Jean, who only glared back. 

            "Listen. Why not tonight we think out the situation. We need to know everything about Kurt's whereabouts, like if it could be booby-trapped or anything. Once we find out all we need to know, we'll launch the rescue mission," Once again, Jean stole away Scott's authority as team leader and made known that she was now in charge. Evan nodded. Scott and Kitty said nothing. Rogue glanced up and nodded her head slightly. 

            _Please, like they really care,_ Jean blinked. Was that really her thought?   

            _Of course they wouldn't. Why should they? I'M the only one who really understands. ME! God, I should've done something earlier…_ "Scott," The name left her lips before she knew what she was saying. Scott didn't look up. But in her head…

            _What now?_ It was Scott. But, not the one she knew. There was something…different. Colder. Very, very unhappy. 

            "Nothing," she said out loud. This time Scott did look up. Shock slowly turned to anger and jean was hit with a full blast of it. 

            "You were reading my thoughts," It wasn't a question but a quiet, cold statement.          

            "I'm getting another milk," Evan nearly flipped over the bench in his haste to get away. Jean spared him a helpless glance before turning back to Scott.

            "Yeah, Ah think Ah'm gunna…Ah….hell, Ah'm jest gunna go," and Rogue was gone. Kitty paid no attention to the fleeing friends. Rather, she was staring across the field, looking oddly at something. Scott didn't notice this time. He was too enveloped in his own rage to realize that Kitty's lips kept forming the same name over and over again, before she finally got up and raced towards the bleachers.

            "It was an accident, you were-"

            "You don't trust me, do you." Jean winced again.

            "Honestly? No, I don't. But I didn't-"

            "You don't trust me. You read my mind because you think I'm gonna plan some big rescue tonight and leave you out of it!"

            "Yes! No! Scott, that's not what-"

            "No!" _Thwack!_ The sound of a wooden lunch bench hitting the sidewalk caused the birds in the next tree over to fly away in fear. Scott slammed both palms on the table as Jean recoiled in fear.

            "Stay out of my mind, Jean. And stay away from me," he added before storming away.

            Jean could only stare at his retreating backside. What was happening to the group? Scott was growing angrier, Kitty was always silent, Evan and Rogue were running away all the time…

            And her. Jean. She knew she wasn't the leader, never tried to be. Well, maybe sometimes, when Scott obviously wasn't doing his job. But how could she help him lead, if their group was falling apart?

            She hadn't read Scott's mind. She would never do a thing like that. Never. So why was he suddenly all accusing? 

            It was because she had told him 'no.' Scott had wanted to rescue his best friend ASAP, and she had told him 'no.' 

            _But we don't have a plan! _She thought, desperately. _How can we save Kurt when we don't know how?_

            She hated the Brother Hood. Hated them with every miniscule bit of hate in her body. Her family was falling apart because of them. She was losing Scott because of them.

            She wished everything could go back to being the same before. She wished none of this had ever happened.

            She should've known better. Wishes don't come true. 

            Not for her.

            *****************************

            It wasn't him. Once again, for the God knows umpteenth time, it wasn't him. 

            It hadn't hurt as much as last time. This time, she had been able to cry.

            It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair it wasn't fair, it…_there's a note sticking out of my locker._

 Yellow paper, with her name on it. It was crumpled, like whoever wrote it only had time to stuff the note into the ventilation cracks. But, who…

            _Kitty,_

_Outside the gate at the mansion. 1:00 tonight. Come prepared._

_-Evan_

"Evan?"

*****************************

As always, Read and Review!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check ya later,

Soli


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